Out of the Waves
by Reina1
Summary: Two completely different worlds: a city under the sea, and the world above. Now they must fight one common enemy. IY/K
1. Alereal

**Alright.. I started this fic back in the summer, when I had eons of spare time on my hands, but sadly, it got put on the back burner when school started and my life was sold to the demands of Junior year.  Now its January, and my ideas are still developing, but I decided it was time to re-vamp the story a bit and then continue on with it.  So bear with me, I'll try to keep the updates regular and all, but no promises.  (Reviews might encourage me though! ^_-)**

***disclaimer* I don't own inuyasha**

**Out of the Waves**

**Chapter One: Alereal**

  From the top of the Altruit Tower the light of the Shikon appeared close enough to touch, and so bright it was almost blinding.  Its light touched every part of the city, from the villages in the north to the mountains of the south.  Below, children played amongst the market stands and busy townspeople crowded the street, all of them taking the light of the Shikon for granted.   Half of them knew nothing of the magnitude of its power and of its importance to their existence.  All the light of the Shikon touched was Alereal, the beautiful capitol of the Oceanic world.

  Kagome stood in the top room of the tower, watching the thriving life in the streets below and watching the animals of the ocean swim around the barrier that covered Alereal.  It was beautiful, and she loved to climb to the top of the tower and observe the entire city, away from everyone and their demands, her escape after hours of studies and her wasted efforts to develop her powers.  Alereal was her home, and all that she knew.  Kagome looked up at the top of the shimmering barrier to the waters that flowed outside of it, and her bright green eyes sparkled slightly.  It was her home alright, but somehow she knew she didn't belong there, and she longed for a day when she could leave the confines of Alereal and find out what else was there.

As she watched, Kagome saw a dark mass strike the barrier.  It weakened, and hundreds of youkai poured into the city.  Kagome threw herself down to the floor out of the sight of the youkai, her eyes wide with shock.  The barrier had never been broken like that before.  She rushed from the room to the bell on the roof and sounded the alarm, but most were already aware of the attack.  Kagome ran down to the throne room where her mother and father, King and Queen of Alereal, were waiting, oddly calm in contrast to the chaos of the world outside.

  "What's going on?" Kagome cried, "The barrier!  It's broken!  So many youkai!  How..?"  The King shook his head as the Queen placed her hand on his arm.

  "We knew this day would come," King Kyoto began, "But we didn't prepare.  This is my fault.  How could I have been so stupid?"  He clenched his fist in anger.

  "Father, what-?"  Kagome stopped.

  "There's no time to explain, dear," said Queen Adriana gently, "they are after the Shikon no Tama," she paused, "and you.  Your father and I will protect the Shikon and all of Alereal the best we can, but you, my darling, must escape, and take this with you."  She handed Kagome a thin silver necklace with small jewel attached.  "It's the shard of Titania, the last shard of the Shikon.  As long as you keep this with you, we will all be safe.  But now you must go.  The time is now that you must return.  So much depends on you.  The other world needs you now."

  "The other world?  What do you mean?  I don't understand!"  Kagome cried, but the Queen had already begun the spell that surrounded Kagome and began to pull her away from Alereal.  Her mother looked up at Kagome one last time, her eyes unreadable and whispered her response.

  "The world above."

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*Short, I know, but it's just the beginning.  I had to start somewhere! Review please!*

-reina


	2. Esliad

**_Chapter two in the revamping process._****__**

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***disclaimer* I don't own inuyasha.**

**The World Above**

**Chapter Two: Esliad**

 There was nothing Inuyasha liked better than a good fight.  He ran down the shore of Esliad towards the hoard of approaching Youkai.  To his left, back towards the base, he could see Miroku lead some of the younger recruits off to fight a different group.  He snorted at the few who broke formation when the fight began.  He wasn't envious of Miroku's job of training the rookies.  

He returned his attention to the youkai that were now upon him and concentrated solely on his fight.  He concentrated so much that he didn't notice the silver-haired girl emerge from the water, or her shockingly green eyes watching his fight intently.  He didn't notice that the few youkai that attacked her were deflected by a mere flick of her hand.  

However, when the youkai he was fighting lost interest in fighting him and instead attacked the girl, Inuyasha noticed.  He turned to look at whatever it was that had disrupted his battle and his eyes widened in surprise at the jewel around her neck. 

'A guardian?' he thought, 'Why did she leave her temple?'  But when he looked closer, the jewel was one he had never seen before.  Suddenly the girl turned to him, her green eyes piercing his.  At the moment their eyes met, a bright light was emitted from the girl and the entire pack of youkai around them was destroyed.  

Inuyasha hardly noticed.  She looked so familiar, yet so foreign.  Now he noticed her white hair and green eyes, an air about her so clearly otherworldly.  They stood staring at each other for several moments, until Inuyasha, unnerved by her bright, piercing gaze, broke eye contact.

He glanced around, noticing for the first time that the entire youkai force had been destroyed.  He was impressed, but damned if he was going to show it.

"Who the hell are you?  And what do you think you're doing, interrupting my fight like that?"

Kagome glared back at him.  She really wasn't in the mood to deal with this angry man, she was only interested in finding answers, but she couldn't just let him be rude like that, now could she?  She opened her mouth to retaliate, but before she could, a jovial voice interrupted her.

"Well I don't know about you pal, but I'm impressed!"  Miroku threw his arm around Inuyasha's shoulders.  "Aren't you going to introduce me to this vision of beauty?"  He grinned widely at Kagome, who looked back at him calmly.

"Feh.  I don't know her."  Inuyasha spat, "and aren't you supposed to be helping the rookies?"  Miroku waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh they're fine, I'm sure.  There were only a couple of youkai left when I came over here to see if you needed any help, but you, or rather this lovely woman, seem to be doing just fine." He turned towards Kagome, "Now, my dear lady, if you will excuse my socially-illiterate friend here, I'll introduce myself."  He waked up and kissed her hand.  "I am Miroku, and this here ruffian is Inuyasha.  Welcome to Esliad."  Kagome bowed her head slightly.

"I am Kagome, princess of the Oceanic World."

* * *

  Kagome looked around in wonder as she followed Inuyasha and Miroku away from the ocean.  All around her there was light, and she felt as if she weighed nothing at all.  

She had learned in school, of course, that it was not natural for humans to be able to breathe under water, but the power of the Shikon allowed them to do so.  

She had always wondered why Alereal was underwater if it was so unnatural, and what existed out of the water, but when she had asked her teacher, he had told her there was nothing.  

Her clothes and her hair were beginning to dry, something she had never even heard of.  She touched the fabric of her clothes in amazement.  They felt strange outside of the water.  

"Kagome?  Are you there?"  Miroku tapped her forehead lightly.

Kagome jumped and blushed.  She had tuned out Miroku and Inuyasha's conversation, distracted by her new surroundings

  "I'm sorry, what were you saying Miroku?"

  "I was just asking about your necklace and about where you are from.  I thought at first you were a guardian, but I don't recognize you."  Miroku supplied.  Kagome thought for a moment then replied,

  "I come from Alereal, as I said before, which is in the center of the Oceanic World.  Earlier today the barrier was broken and my city attacked.  My mother sent me here, out of the water because she said I was need in this world.  The world above."  Here she paused.

  "Out of the water?" Inuyasha scoffed, "I suppose there's just a whole city of people swimming around down beneath the ocean."  Kagome looked at him strangely.

  "Until now I was unaware that this world," she gestured to the scenery around her, "was more than just a fairy tale."  She didn't mean to sound so stand offish, but she was still shocked about what had happened in such a short time.  She thought painfully of Alereal and wondered how her mother and father were doing.  But her mother had sent her here, and despite how much she wanted to help defend Alereal, her mother was very rarely ever wrong, and the only thing she could do now was find out what she had to do.

  "How is it that an entire world of people survives under water?" Miroku asked.

  "The Shikon no Tama hangs high above Alereal, our protection, our light, and our power.  It was once split into four pieces, called the souls of Titania, Alereal, Shonto, and Lentar.  However, decades ago a powerful enemy attacked Oceana and the rulers of the four shards decided to merge together and allow the one jewel to protect us all."  Kagome fingered the jewel around her neck.

"My necklace is the shard of Titania, which was believed to be lost in the attack on the city.  Without it, the Shikon no Tama is still powerful, but not complete.  We were hardly able to defeat the enemy then, and I fear that now he has returned."  

Miroku and Inuyasha stared at each other for a moment, then Miroku asked,

  "This enemy, what was his name?"  Kagome's eyes darkened.

  "Naraku.  His name is never spoken in Alereal, but he is always a threat."

  "We should bring her to Hakori."  Said Miroku.  He wasn't sure what all of this meant, but Hakori might be able to give them all a clue

  "If Naraku is after this Shikon jewel and the Jewel of Seven Souls, we've got a bigger problem than we thought."  Inuyasha said.  Kagome looked at him quizzically. 

  "Jewel of Seven Souls?"  she asked.  Miroku nodded.

  "The Jewel of Seven Souls, or the Raston Jewel, is similar to your Shikon no Tama, and if I remember correctly, there is a legend which says the two were made together, right before, I would guess, your people entered the sea.  But that legend had no truth behind it, or at least I thought. 

However, the Raston is what protects the people on land.  It is divided into seven shards, similar to your four, the souls of Narkia, Arysis, Esliad, Nalhar, Cryan, Tanli, and Ristanta.  Each shard is protected in a temple by a guardian in their respective cities.  A few months ago Naraku began attacking the temples, in an attempt to gather the seven shards.  According to legend, should Naraku attain both the Shikon and the Raston, he would be unstoppable."

"And this town is Esliad?"  Kagome asked.  She could see the parallels in the story of the two jewels, but why were they separate?  Why did no one in Alereal know about this other world and this other jewel?  She looked at Miroku as he continued.  Her question would have to wait. 

"Yes, this is Esliad, where we have the main base of the resistance against Naraku, lead by the guardian of the Esliad Temple, Hakori.  The Guardians rarely ever leave their cities unless their temple is destroyed, when they must take their shard and flee.  Naraku has only been successful in getting the shard of Cryan, for their guardian, Kyon, passed away last year, and their young guardian, Shippo, was only a young kitsune.  You'll meet him later I'm sure.  Now, your arrival is sure to cause quite a commotion, so let's first get you to see Hakori, and we'll go from there."  Kagome nodded, deep in thought, and the three continued up the path towards the building towering in the distance.

---- 

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**_review, because I know you want to. _**


	3. The Resistance

**_Moving right along._****__**

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***disclaimer* Inuyasha isn't mine… -_-**

**Out of the Waves**

**Chapter Three:  The Resistance**

  The city of Esliad was like nothing Kagome had ever seen before.  This, of course, was to be expected as she had never been on land.  There were crowds of people and the noises and the dust and the glaring of the sun left her in awe.  In Alereal, nothing was dirty; it was impossible, and the water muffled the noises.  However, here in Esliad, things were different.  

She looked down at her clothing with fascination.  Her outfit was, or used to be, a white, flowing material spun by the mermaids of Shonto, made to flow with the currents of the water, but in the sunlight it was shimmering, as if it had kept the colors of the ocean hidden within it.  

Kagome looked up and realized that she had fallen behind Miroku and Inuyasha while she was taking in the sites around her.  Everything was just so different on land.  She hurried to catch up.  It would be a disaster to get lost in a world she knew nothing about.

*

Inuyasha glanced back at Kagome who had fallen behind looking at everything as though she had never seen anything like it.  Inuyasha paused.  That made sense.  He watched as Kagome hurried to catch up, her green eyes sparkling excitedly.  She looked so familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and this frustrated him.  Inuyasha didn't like to be frustrated.

"Keep up with us, girl." He said sharply, and went back to thinking.

*

"You say you come from beneath the ocean?"  Hakori asked in disbelief.  As head of the resistance, Hakori had met many strange people coming to join the fight against Naraku, but none before had ever claimed to have come from a legendary aquatic city.  

He considered the facts.  According to Miroku and Inuyasha's story, this girl was able to defeat youkai without a second thought, but if that was the case, why had her city been so easy to attack?  Although there were many who supported the resistance, Naraku was a powerful enemy and Hakori knew that he needed all the help he could get.

 "You say you have come to save our world.  How do you plan to do that?"  Kagome shrugged.

"I'm not sure, sir.  My mother, Queen Adriana told me only that I was needed.  I think that the fate of this world and the fate of my own are very closely intertwined.  Naraku has always been a feared enemy of my people, and as I am beginning to see, he is an enemy to yours as well.  He must be stopped by any means possible."  Kagome spoke matter-of-factly, for she knew that what she said was true.  "I only know that Naraku must be defeated, and that I refuse to be idle while Alereal is in danger."  She was getting tired, but she was anxious to start doing something.  Anything, really. 

Hakori nodded slowly.

"Very well.  I believe it is time for us to enter the race against Naraku for the shards of the Jewel.  Many people have taken to defending the seven temples, but it is not enough.  As I can not leave Esliad, Inuyasha and Miroku, you two were chosen to be the ones to gather the shards.  However, Kagome will be joining you.  As the only representative of the Oceanic world that we know of, I believe she will be a valuable addition to your team."

Kagome nodded.  To be honest, she didn't care who she worked with, so long as she could defeat Naraku.  The sooner the better.  In order to do that though, she had to learn more about this different world, and how her powers worked here.  She was still a baffled by how she destroyed that whole group of youkai

 "Now Miroku, I need you to come with me.  With you gone we'll need someone else to take care of the training of our newest members, and we should see to it as quickly as possible.  Inuyasha, you take Kagome around the temple and bring her up to date on our situation."  Hakori and Miroku walked out of the room.  Kagome looked at Inuyasha warily.  He merely grunted and turned towards the door.

"Come on girl.  I don't have all day."

* * *

Naraku turned lazily from the window when his servant entered.  He was feeling good today.  He had just sent forces to Arysis and Esliad that morning, and he was waiting to hear news about how the attack on Alereal had gone.  Naraku had no doubt about his success.  

He was well aware of the resistance, lead by that incompetent fool Hakori, and to say the least, he wasn't worried.  The guardian never left his temple unless it was destroyed or in danger and even then he had to take the shard of Esliad with him, a dangerous stunt.  

Naraku found that restriction of the Raston Jewel to be wonderfully convenient.  After all, as long as the temple wasn't destroyed, he knew exactly where he could find the next shard.  He had given all of his youkai strict orders to leave the Esliad temple standing, but he wasn't worried about the other six temples.  Cryan, for instance, had been mere child's play.  The kitsune had escaped, but Naraku now had the first shard in his possession.  He figured if the other guardians fled, it would give his servants a bigger challenge.  A little bit more fun.  He chuckled to himself, then looked to the servant.  It was a rat youkai, one of high rank, and he was breathing heavily.

"What do you want?" he asked harshly.  Couldn't let a good mood make his servants think he was soft.  The rat youkai shivered with fear and Naraku grinned slightly.

"M-ma- Master Naraku," the rat stuttered nervously, "I have news of the attacks."

"Go on."  

"It's not going well sir, not well at all."

"What do you mean it's not going well? How can it not be going well?"  Naraku demanded.

"I'm sorry, sir!" the rat squeaked, "Princess Kagome of Alereal fled before the men could find her.  We managed to steal the Shikon no Tama, but it is not complete, sir."

"Not complete?"

"The last shard, sir, the shard of Titania is missing."

"What of Alereal?  Has it been destroyed?"

"They managed, sir, to do considerable damage to the outskirts of the town, but the Queen placed an impenetrable spell around the center, and there is nothing the men can do, sir."  Naraku nodded.

"They won't last long within the confines of that spell and without the Shikon.  Adriana is powerful, but even she has limits.  Who is in charge of the Alereal attack?  Serpantine, correct?  Send a water demon to him, tell him to remain in Alereal until the Queen weakens.  However, the escape of Princess Kagome is inexcusable.  Do you have any idea of her whereabouts?"  The rat nodded eagerly.

"I've just come back from Esliad sir.  The girl is there sir.  But.."  the rat paused.  Naraku glared at him angrily.

"Continue." He ordered.

"The entire attack force at Esliad was destroyed master."  The rat hid his face from Naraku.

"The entire force? How is that possible?"

"The girl, sir.  She destroyed them all."  Naraku shook with rage.

"Get out of my sight!" he thundered.  The rat scurried out of the room.  Naraku turned back to the window, contemplating this new obstacle.  He heard someone enter the room and turned, ready to blast the intruding youkai into oblivion.  However, he stopped himself.  Kikyo walked towards him, smiling smugly.

"I told you not to underestimate your enemies, Naraku."  She said.  He turned away angrily, but she put a finger under his chin and turned his face to hers as she continued, "I betrayed the resistance because I thought that you could actually succeed.  I did not become a traitor to join a side that will fail because of a mere girl."

"I will not fail Kikyo.  Don't forget that were it not for me, you would be dead right now.  You are nothing without me.  You are mine.  Never forget that."  She turned and walked angrily out of the room.  Naraku smiled again.  "You are mine."

- - - 

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**_I know that so far the chapters have been short.. I wasn't sure how long a page on word translated onto FF would be… but I'm a big fan of nice long chapters (I hope I don't regret saying that later) so don't worry!_**


	4. Discovering a Different World

**_My first three reviews!! ::sigh:: I love you guys!  I'm going to work a little more on the relationships between characters and their personalities, because I think it makes the story more fun to read!!  Enjoy, and as always.. review!!_**

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***disclaimer* inuyasha is not mine **

**Out of the Waves**

**Chapter Four: Discovering a Different World**

Miroku walked beside Hakori, not listening to a word that was being said.  He was thinking instead, of Kagome.  Kagome intrigued him.  Sure, there were pretty girls at the temple, but most had him (mistakenly) labeled as a pervert.  He couldn't understand it.  He merely appreciated every woman as a thing of beauty.

At any rate, if this Alereal world of Kagome's was real, and had other girls as pretty as Kagome, he definitely wouldn't mind saving it.  Miroku grinned.  'Speaking of Kagome,' he wondered, 'how is she doing with Inuyasha?

*

"And what's that?" Kagome asked, pointing to a snack machine.  This place had the oddest contraptions in it.

"A snack machine"

"And that?"

"A lamp."

"That?"

"Electrical socket.  You already asked that one."

"Mhmm.  What's that?"

"That's a device that can shine your shoes while brushing your hair while playing Yankee Doodle on a slide whistle."

"Wow! Really?" Kagome's eyes lit up.

"No.  Actually a coffee maker, but we can pretend."  Inuyasha said dryly, making his way over to the snack machine and bought two chocolate bars.  "Here." He grunted, handing one to Kagome.  "Chocolate."

Kagome grinned and walked to Inuyasha.  She was having too much fun.

"So. Your ears."  Her fingers itched to pet them.  "Care to explain?"

"Not especially."

"Please?" Kagome clasped her hands and made puppy eyes.  "Pretty please?"

"I'm a hanyou."  Inuyasha coughed, looking away.

"A what?  Oh! A hanyou!  Cool!"

Inuyasha looked at her strangely.

"Cool?"  He repeated cautiously.

Kagome took a bite out of her chocolate bar.

"Mhmm.  Back in Alereal I have this friend Junta.  She's part human, part sea serpent demon.  I'm so jealous.  But this is good.  What'd you say it was again?  Chaulkit?"

"Chocolate."  Inuyasha corrected absently.  He just couldn't figure this girl out.  She acted all high and mighty in front of Hakori, but now she was bouncing around like a five year old on a sugar high.  And sure people had begun to accept him as a hanyou, but 'cool'?  He shook his head and followed Kagome out of the cafeteria.

A group of young Resistance members were walking down the hall towards the cafeteria.

"Hello!"  Kagome sang out.  "I'm Kagome!"

The group stopped and the leader of the group, a tall girl named Lia, whom Inuyasha recognized as the daughter of a very powerful man in Esliad, looked Kagome up and down.  The rest of the group whispered loudly behind her.

"That hair!  Who does she think she is?"

"Look at those clothes.  Where did she come from?  A freak show?"

Kagome's bright smile fell.

"Well," Lia said loudly, "I didn't know Hakori was welcoming circus freaks into the resistance now.  Seems he'll let anyone in these days."  The group laughed loudly and continued towards the cafeteria.

Inuyasha stopped them.  Everyone knew Lia had had a crush on Inuyasha since the day her family had joined the resistance.

"Hey Lia," he called, barely controlling his anger as he watched Kagome turn away, the bounce gone from her step.

"Yes, Inuyasha?"  Lia replied, a sugary smile plastered on her face, "what is it?"

"I would have thought you knew Hakori only let a freak in when you joined.  He hasn't done so since."

Lia's smile faltered and her eyes narrowed.

"Come on girls," she said loudly, her eyes never leaving Inuyasha, "we all know the opinion of a hanyou doesn't count."  She turned and walked haughtily into the cafeteria, but no one missed the furious flush on her face.

Inuyasha hurried over to Kagome, who was furiously blinking tears from her eyes.  Inuyasha stood there awkwardly.

"Come on," he said, "I have something I think you'll like."

*

Miroku was far from bored.  He knew that picking a new instructor was important to the Resistance, and so he nodded sincerely to all of Hakori's questions and fixed his eyes intently on the people Hakori had brought him to observe.

His mind, however, was elsewhere.

_Oooh__!  That red head at the bench press is cute and, oh my!  Look at that blonde doing pull ups.  Maybe I can convince Hakori that I need more assistance gathering the shards._

"Well Miroku?  What do you think?"  Hakori asked, interrupting Miroku's thoughts.

"I agree, most definitely.  You're completely right."  Miroku nodded, his eyes never leaving a brunette practicing on a sparring mat.

Hakori looked at him strangely, but before he could question Miroku, a young messenger bearing the mark of Arysis burst into the room.

"Guardian Hakori!" he cried, panting heavily, "Arysis has fallen!"

*

Sango looked about her, distraught.  She had had no warning of this attack

"Kohaku!" she called.  Where was he?  She watched in dismay as the beautiful city of Arysis burned, its people running about in panic as youkai attacked at will.  Sango was sickened.  They were actually _enjoying this.  She ducked into an alley.  She knew the youkai were looking for her.  She anxiously touched the soul shard of Arysis, which hung around her neck.  It was her duty to escape and keep the shard safe, but she could not leave Kohaku.  Where was he?_

Sango hurried around the corner, trying to stay in the shadows.  She knew she wasn't supposed to stay in Arysis even ten minutes after the temple fell, but she had to find Kohaku.

Suddenly she halted completely.  There, across the town center was Kohaku, standing before a woman demon, his face blank.

"Kohaku, NO!"  She rushed across the street, her boomerang already whipping through the air, slicing the demon in half.  But before she could reach Kohaku, her limbs froze.  She stood, paralyzed, in the middle of the street.  Sango looked around in panic.  There, walking out of the shadows was Naraku.

"Really, Guardian Sango, I expected more of you."  Sango felt herself regain control of her limbs, but she stood there, still motionless, staring at Naraku defiantly.  She had sent a messenger to Hakori when it had first become apparent that the city could not hold out against the youkai.  She had let him take Kiara, so she was sure help must be on the way.

"What do you want Naraku?" she spat, as if she didn't know what he was after.

"Sango dear, do you really have to ask?  However, I'm no longer concerned with getting that shard.  As far as I'm concerned," he gestured to the destruction around him, "it's already mine.  I'll even let some lowly servant be the one to take it from you, just so they can feel like they are useful.  But this young man, what did you say his name was, Kohaku?  He interests me much more."

"What do you want from him, Naraku?" she demanded, trying to hide the panic in her voice, her dark brown eyes flashing with the frustration of being helpless.

"Why, I'm merely concerned for his well-being.  I want to make sure he is brought up correctly."  He turned to Kohaku, whose face remained blank, his eyes unblinking.  "Come along, Kohaku."  And they were gone. 

Sango fell to her knees her faced covered by her hair.  She clenched her fist in anger and looked up to where Naraku had disappeared.  He would not get away with this, she swore to herself.  She jumped up and ran from the city.  She wasn't much in the mood to face arrogant youkai right now.

*

Kagome had been counting the stairs, but she had lost track at three hundred, and that had been ten minutes ago.  She had no idea that the temple of Esliad was so tall.

She thought wistfully of the Altruit tower and wondered whether her city was safe.

"Inuyasha, where are you taking me?" she asked, just a hint of a whine in her voice.

All in all her day had been exhausting.  Only this morning she had woken up in her room at Alereal, not even suspecting that her whole world was about to fall apart.

"Not telling.  We're almost there."  He really didn't know why he was being nice to this strange girl, but he knew what it was like to not belong.

The stairs ended at a small stone room with a door leading out to an open stone terrace.  The sun had just sunk below the horizon and the stars had only just begun to come out.  From any point on the tower, Kagome could see the ocean.

"Oh Inuyasha, it's beautiful!" Kagome breathed, "but what is that above us?" she asked, looking upwards.

"What?"

"The darkness with the little lights."  Inuyasha chuckled.

"That's the sky Kagome.  It's a great expanse of empty space, and those pin points of light are really stars, huge masses of gas, millions of miles away."

"Really."  Kagome yawned, glancing upward again.  Then she looked out to the ocean.  "Look, Inuyasha," she pointed out to the horizon, "do you see that part where it looks like the light on the ocean is coming out of the waves, rather than from a reflection?"  Inuyasha nodded.  "That's from Alereal, though it's farther away than you may think.  Sometimes, I think, the light escapes the barrier."  She yawned tiredly and turned to him with a small smile.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

He nodded and looked away.  He very rarely did anything nice for anyone, mainly because the world had been so quick to turn him away.  But Kagome was not like the rest of the world, for obvious reasons.

He watched as she tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle another large yawn.

"I guess I should show you your room now."

"Mhmm." Kagome said, rubbing her eyes.

Inuyasha had gotten the code to unlock Kagome's room earlier from the old man down on the first level of the temple.  They stopped fist outside of room 117.

"This is my room," Inuyasha explained, "Your room is 120, right down the hall."  

They began walking towards it and Inuyasha opened the door to Kagome's room.

"Bathroom, closet, bed." He said, indicating each.  "Good night."

Kagome looked down at her dirtied white outfit then back at Inuyasha.  Yea right she was sleeping in that.

"Pajamas?" she called out.  Inuyasha turned and looked at her.

"Oh right.  I guess they haven't supplied you with more clothes yet," he muttered, "Hold on."

He went down the hall to his room and grabbed and over-sized t-shirt and a pair of shorts.  When he returned to Kagome's room she was inspecting the light switch.

"Intriguing." She muttered and absently took the clothes out of Inuyasha's hand.  "Thanks."

"Alright then," Inuyasha said, "we'll get you up-to-date on the situation with Naraku tomorrow morning."  Kagome nodded.

"Good night, Inuyasha."

"Good night."  He closed her door behind him and started walking back towards his room, feeling just as tired as Kagome looked.

Before he could open his door, Shippou ran up to him.  Inuyasha sighed.

"Inuyasha!  Arysis has been attacked, the temple has fallen! Hakori wants to see you, who is this Kagome girl he mentioned? Is she nice?  Can I meet her?  Hakori needs you, you have to go to Hakori now!"   The young kitsune gasped for breath.

"Where's Miroku?"  Inuyasha asked, far more alert than before.

"I had him leave immediately after the messenger from Arysis arrived."  Inuyasha turned to see Hakori stride down the hall.  "Where is Kagome?"

"In her room, I just left her there."

"Very well.  Miroku is already on his way to Arysis.  Tomorrow morning you and Kagome will follow.  It is extremely important that we find the guardian of Arysis before Naraku does."  Inuyasha nodded. "I'll have some one wake you early tomorrow morning."

*

Naraku smiled.  So things had not gone as perfectly as planned with the attacks on Alereal and Esliad, but the attack on Arysis was going superbly.  He had seen it himself.

"Kagura."  He called out, and his servant appeared before him.

"Yes master?"

"I'm sure that fool Hakori will send some of his henchmen to try to foil my work in Arysis.  See to it that they are taken care of."

"Of course master." 

"Oh, and before you go," he nodded towards the emotionless child standing beside him, "see that Kohaku is properly welcomed to the castle and taken care of.  He is a guest of the utmost importance."  Kagura grinned slyly and nodded, then took Kohaku away.

Naraku grinned.  He had once heard that taking over the world was impossible.  His grin turned into laughter.  This was almost too easy.

------

**_Yay_****_! Another chapter done! Thanks to vegito, angelsong and celestesprings for reviewing… you make me so happy ^-^_**

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**_Hope you enjoyed, now you know the routine… review!!!_**

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**_-reina-_**


	5. The Rescue

**_One more chapter to re-do, and then I can actually update! (too bad my homework has fallen to the wayside..)_**

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***disclaimer* One night I had this dream that I was a Japanese manga writer and I was wildly popular.  One of my most successful creations was called "inuyasha." In fact, it was so successful that I was famous and considered a genius by many.**

**Then I woke up.**

**It wasn't true.**

**Out of the Waves**

**Chapter Five:  The Rescue**

"I have got to get me one of these!"  Miroku cried, looking down in wonder at the blur of trees below him.  The messenger from Arysis had arrived at Esliad on a giant demon cat, one like Miroku had never seen before.  He had at first been expecting to have to walk to Arysis, which meant at least half a day wasted, and by the time he would have gotten there, there would be nothing he could do.  

  That was no longer an issue.  Miroku patted the side of the cat.  Sure, it had taken a couple of falls and a lot of chocolate to get a ride, but it was worth it.  

  Now he was faced with another problem.  Once he got to Arysis, how on earth was he supposed to find the Guardian?  Hakori had said her name was Sango.  

  Miroku shrugged and grinned.  All he had to do was go in there, kill a couple of youkai, play the hero, get the girl.  It was simple.

Suddenly, the cat began a descent into the thick woods below, and Miroku wondered vaguely if demon cats ever ate people.  

"Arysis is only five minutes away, Cat.  What are you doing?"  

He was ignored.

They landed softly and Miroku dismounted and looked around.  "So.  Nice forest.  Can we keep going now?"  He turned to look at the giant feline, but it had disappeared.

Fantastic.

He heard a noise behind him and as he turned to look at what was there, he felt a blade pressed against his throat.

His day was quickly going down the drain.

"Who are you?" a girl's voiced hissed in his ear.

"Well, I'm a roguishly handsome young man of seventeen years.  My name's Miroku and I like classic literature and long walks on the beach."  He stopped as the blade was pressed harder against his throat.

"What are you doing here, houshi?  Where did you come from?"  The girl asked cautiously.

"I come from Esliad, and I'm here to be a hero."  He felt the pressure on his neck relax and he turned to find a beautiful girl standing before him.  "See, I came here riding this enormous demon cat, but it appears I've been ditched.  Care to help me out?"  The girl looked at him warily, then relaxed.

"Kirara." She said.

"What?"

"The cat.  Her name is Kirara."  She motioned to the small cat perched on her shoulder.  

Miroku eyed the little cat and shook his head.  "No, my cat was like this, but more."  He spread his arms as far as they would go.  The girl continued.

"I am Sango, guardian of the soul of Arysis.  I'm assuming Hakori sent you?"

"Yes, yes.  Hakori sent me, to find you, actually, but you've just made it wonderfully easy for me.  Make kitty here get big again and we can head back to Esliad right now.  Not bad for a morning's work."

Sango shook her head.  "I can't go to Esliad yet.  I have to go back to Arysis and help my people.  I have to find my brother."

"Sorry, but my orders are to find you and bring you back to Esliad.  We need to get that shard somewhere safe."  He said, pointing to the shard hanging around her neck.  Sango grabbed the necklace anxiously.

"I know that, but I have a duty to my people.  They need my help right now."

"Your duty is to protect that shard, and that means coming back to Esliad with me."

Sango looked at him angrily.  "I'm going back to Arysis.  I can make it to Esliad on my own, when I am ready."  She turned and began to walk in the direction of Arysis.  To her dismay, Miroku began to follow.

"I've never been one to argue with a pretty girl," he placed a hand on her shoulder, walking with her, "and I would love to accompany you back to Arysis until you are ready to come to Esliad."  His face remained innocent as his hand began to slip lower and lower.  Sango shrugged.

"Whatever."  And lower.  Sango's mouth dropped in surprise. "PERVERT!!"  She stalked angrily ahead into the forest, leaving Miroku on the ground, the perfect imprint of her hand across his cheek, not altering the happy smile on his face.  Maybe this day wasn't so bad.

*

"In the year 2224, life on Earth had reached its max.  Its population had become too much for the planet to sustain, and the entire ecosystem fell apart.  By 2226 only an eighth of the population remained.  Earthquakes, floods, never-ending storms and other natural disasters continued to plague the earth.  Many fled to distant planets, and it is rumored that some survivors established colonies that still exist today.  However, as cities, empires and entire countries continued to crumble, it was clear that something had to be done to save humanity.

On the eve of 2227, twelve mages of different parts of the earth came together to find a way to save what was left of humanity.  Their names were Titania, Alereal, Shonto, Lentar, Esliad, Arysis, Cryan, Nalhar, Narkia, Tanli, Ristanta and Shira."  Here Kagome broke off.  Those were the names of the temples here on land, and the shards of the Shikon, but Shira she did not recognize.

Inuyasha sighed, obviously annoyed.  "Do you really find it necessary to read that entire cursed book out loud?"  

He had been woken up early by an eager Shippo, who apparently could think of no better way to wake somebody up than by dumping ice cold water on them.  After this rather rude awakening, Inuyasha had gone to Kagome's room, expecting to have to wake her up.  Upon entering her room however, he had found Kagome, looking rather ridiculous in her borrowed clothes, completely entranced by a book in her hands.

She said she had found the book in her room, and at the time Inuyasha had been curious.  Now he was feeling violent.

He and Kagome had been traveling for a little over two hours, and the girl had yet to stop reading passages from that damned book.

"Well girl?  Do you?"  Kagome gave him a blank look, and then went back to the book, hardly paying attention to where she was walking.

"The twelve mages had conflicting ideas on how to save their people, and before long, the group had been split into two factions.  Titania, Alereal, Shonto and Lentar voiced that they should use their powers to bring humanity into the ocean, as life on land was becoming too dangerous.  All the others, with the exception of Shira, wanted to use their powers to create one stable world on land, and protect that one world while leaving the rest of the earth to its own fate.  Although all twelve mages were good-hearted, the two groups argued deep into the night, and violence was about to ensue when Shira, a princess of a land long lost, stood up.  She proposed that Titania, Alereal, Shonto and Lentar create their underwater world, and the other seven create their haven on land.

From her robes Shira pulled a single, shining jewel.  She explained that that jewel was her soul, captured and contained, but flawlessly preserved.  In order to save the world, all of the other mages followed Shira's idea, and made what has become known as the Ultimate Sacrifice.  All of them gave their entire beings into the jewel.  Shira then split the jewel into two pieces; one piece containing the seven souls of the land, called the Raston, and the other, the Shikon, containing the four of the ocean.  Shira gave the jewels to the last survivors of Earth, telling them that only in a time of the most severe need should the two pieces be united, for it was then that the twelve would be freed from their voluntary prisons to again help the human race.  Then Shira herself was absorbed into both pieces."

Kagome paused.  She had never known that much about the Shikon jewel.  In the Oceanic World, its power was taken for granted.  She closed the book and placed it carefully in her bag.  She knew that many of the answers to her questions lay within its pages.

Inuyasha looked at her out of the corner of his eye.  Unintentionally he had begun to listen to Kagome's words, and despite of himself, he was curious to find out what else he had never learned before.  He looked up at the sun, and realized, to his dismay, that while listening to Kagome read he had let their pace drop.  Inuyasha knew Miroku could hold his own against a couple of youkai, but it must have been more than just a couple to bring an entire temple down.

"Come on, wench.  Put that damned book away and keep up.  I don't need your slow ass holding me back."

"Jerk."  Kagome muttered, and hurried to catch up.

Suddenly, great gusts of wind began to blow, and the trees started to creak and bend and break.  From the top of the trees descended a girl with a proud smirk on her face.

"Kagura."  Inuyasha said under his breath, and pushed Kagome, who fell, rather ungraciously, behind a large fallen tree.

The girl stayed hovering a few feet off of the ground and spoke in a scornful voice, "Well, if it isn't my favorite hanyou.  What are you doing out here all by yourself."  Obviously she had not seen Kagome.

"It's none of your business, bitch, but since you're here, I might as well kill you now, so I don't have to do it later."  Inuyasha cracked his knuckles.  'Kagome, stay behind that tree!' he pleaded silently.  She still didn't know everything about the youkai on land.

"And he's _not all alone."  Kagome stepped defiantly out from behind the tree.  Inuyasha slapped his forehead.  _

Great.  Now he was going to have to protect her while trying to kill Kagura.

Much to his surprise however, Kagura's eyes widened in shock and the winds died down for a moment.

"It can't be."  She whispered softly, so only Inuyasha's ears could pick it up.  Kagura quickly hid her shock, but Inuyasha didn't miss the tremor in her voice.

"My fight with you, Inu-chan, is not here.  I will see you in Arysis."  The winds blew violently, and Kagura disappeared.

Inuyasha spat.  Something about Kagome had scared Kagura.  He looked at the girl, who looked just as bewildered as him.  What was it?

"And that would be…?"  Kagome asked, looking at him.

"Kagura.  One of Naraku's creations."  Kagome nodded.

"We should hurry to Arysis.  If she's going there, we should be there to help Miroku."  Kagome said.  She punched him lightly in the shoulder.  "And next time, how bout you don't push me into a tree."

"Feh.  You would have only gotten in the way."  Kagome stared at him angrily.

"Why you…" she began, but Inuyasha cut her off.

"Stop wasting time, wench.  Let's go."  She bit her tongue and followed.

*

Within another hour, Kagome and Inuyasha had reached Arysis.  Kagome looked around at the devastation.  A house in front of them was on fire.  Kagome paused.  

Fire?  How did she know fire?  Something tugged at her memory, something important, dancing just along the edge of remembering, but she shook her head and continued forward.

"Is this how things always work in your world?"  she asked Inuyasha, her bright green eyes slightly dimmed by the horror around her.

"Not always.  Sometimes there is peace.  Keep going."

Suddenly the house in front of them began to collapse.  Kagome jumped back as she heard a scream coming from inside.

"Oba-san!  Please!  Wake up!  Somebody help us!"  Kagome ran towards the house, but before she could enter Inuyasha grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" he demanded furiously, "trying to get yourself killed?"

"We have to help them, Inuyasha!  We can't just leave them in there!"  Kagome made an effort to pull free from his grasp.  "Let go!"

"Not you.  I'll go.  My clothes are made from the fire rat.  I won't get burned. He turned and ran into the burning building.   
Kagome stood, watching him go. As soon as he was out of sight, she followed. She had never been one to stay behind.   
The first room of the house was filled with smoke. Kagome coughed, her eyes watering. Where did Inuyasha go? And where were the people? She hurried down the hallway and jumped in surprise as part of the ceiling fell in. She kicked open a door on her right and there before her was a small child, crying hysterically beside an old woman. She had to get them out.   
Kagome ran to the little child's side. It was a girl, her dirtied face streaked with tears.   
"Sweetie, don't cry. Hurry. We have to get out of here." Kagome took the little girl's hand. "Come with me. I'll get you out and then come back for your Oba-san."   
The girl nodded her head and followed Kagome out of the house. As soon as the little girl was safe, Kagome ran back into the house. "Now where was that room," she muttered to herself. She put a hand to her forehead. Her eyes were getting hazy and why was the room spinning? A beam fell from the ceiling, and Kagome fell to the ground unconscious.   
  
*   
  _"Onee-chan!__ Ready or not, here I come!" Kagome cried as she ran through the hallways, her small feet making loud noises in the quiet hallway. She stopped running and tip-toed silently into a room with floor-to-ceiling windows, edged in large curtains. _

_"Gotchya!" she yelled, pulling back the curtain, but no one was there. She ran back out of the room and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, her face flushed with excitement and her eyes sparkling, her black hair long since fallen out of the fancy style her mother insisted on. "Onee-chan, where are you?" Kagome ran farther down the hall. She was beginning to get scared. Onee-chan usually came out by now. _  
Kagome sniffed the air. Something smelled funny. Was something burning?   
Suddenly she heard voices coming from a room down the hall. Kagome snuck into the room quietly. Her mother and father were standing there arguing with a man. Who was he?   
"There's no way you can get away with this Naraku, destroying us will make no difference." Her father was saying. Get away with what? She wanted the man to leave.   
"We'll see about that, Keiichi." The man held his hand up and Kagome watched as her father flew backwards and struck the wall. __

_Kagome leapt forward, a cry already halfway out of her mouth when some one grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth.  She looked back and saw it was a youkai, but for some reason she wasn't scared.  She knew that this demon was different from the others.  She recognized him as a lord of some lands to the west, and she knew that some people didn't like that her parents were friends with him, but Kagome didn't know why. _

_He had children too, two sons…  _

_Kagome and the demon made their way quietly towards the exit, but she didn't miss the man her father had called Naraku taking the lives of her parents.  Silent tears poured down her face as Kagome followed the dog youkai out of the castle._

_Kagome looked back as flames engulfed the home that she knew she would never see again._

_Suddenly Kagome found herself on a small boat in the middle of the ocean, the waves towering far above her.  The youkai lord looked about anxiously._

_"Kagome," he said, his voice soft, but she could hear it over the sounds of the storm, "you must live.  Somehow you must survive.  Your parents…" he paused.  "I know you are probably too young to understand what is happening, but someday you will be needed.  There is a prophecy about you.  You and my son,"  _

_In a blur of motion and the loud screeching of youkai, the demon was cut off.  Kagome looked up fearfully.  The Inu lord  leapt into the air  and began fighting off the attacking youkai, but even Kagome could tell that he didn't stand a chance.  _

_From the midst of the battle emerged the man Kagome had seen kill her parents.  He laughed at the demon lord, and she noticed that all the other youkai backed away.  The man and the demon began to fight, but it soon became evident that her friend was losing.  Suddenly he stopped fighting and looked down at Kagome._

_"Kagome," he said, his voice tired but urgent, "remember Inuyasha.  Live, and remember."  A light began to shine from out of the demon, so bright that Kagome looked away._

_A huge explosion capsized the boat and Kagome fell into the tumultuous water.  As she sank deeper into the depths of the ocean, Kagome could still see light from the power emitted from the youkai lord, and then there was only darkness._

*

Inuyasha paced anxiously outside of a closed door.  He had told her to wait behind.  But then, he should have known that Kagome wouldn't listen to him.

Inuyasha had gone into the house and searched for the people inside.  He had gone into a room and found an old woman passed out on the floor, so he had picked her up and begun to walk back out when he stumbled upon an unconscious Kagome.

Now he was at one of the few remaining buildings in Arysis.  The old woman, Kaede, had woken up shortly after he brought her out of the house, and was now taking care of Kagome in the other room.  Kaede's grandchild, Tora looked just as worried as Inuyasha.

Wait a minute.  He was _not worried.  It was her own damn fault, not listening to him and traipsing into a burning building as if she had been around fire all her life.  Inuyasha snorted.  He knew that was impossible._

His ears picked up the turning of a doorknob and Kaede emerged from the room.  Inuyasha leapt at her.

"How is she, hag?"

Kaede looked at him with an amused expression on her face.

"Oh, she's fine, boy.  Just sleeping now.  She should wake in a little while.  But if you could be so kind as to not wear a hole in the floor, I'm sure my neighbors would appreciate it."

Inuyasha growled and went into Kagome's room.  She didn't look too good.  Her white hair had soot in it, and there were black smudges all over her face.  Before he knew what he was doing, Inuyasha reached a hand out to Kagome's face and rubbed away a smudge.

He pulled his hand back as though he had just touched a hot coal.

_What am I doing?  I only met this girl yesterday.  I'm not even nice to people I've known all his life!  He thought frantically, __This__ has to stop.  Inuyasha backed away from Kagome cautiously.  She whispered something in her sleep, and his eyes widened in surprise.  His name?  Was she dreaming about him?_

Suddenly Kagome woke with a start and sat straight up, her face wet with tears, and she tried frantically to remember the fleeting scenes from her dream.  She looked about her in confusion.  Where was the ocean?  Kagome looked at Inuyasha and it all came back to her.  The fire, the little girl, her grandmother.

"Did you find her, Inuyasha?" she asked anxiously.

"Who?"

"The old lady!  I went back to get her, but now I'm here."

"Feh.  Of course I got her.  I told you I would."  Now that Kagome was awake, Inuyasha forgot about his worried thoughts just moments before.  "Stupid girl.  You nearly got yourself killed.  Do you know how much trouble I would have gotten in with Hakori?  Next time do as I say, not as I do, wench."

Kagome bit back her anger.  That big jerk!  She clenched her fist.

Kaede entered the room and chuckled to herself.  Mere moments before she had been watching the most worried hanyou imaginable.  Quite the change in attitude.

"Inuyasha," she said, "kindly leave me with Kagome so I can check how she is doing without you here to distract us."  Inuyasha snorted and left the room.  "So Kagome, you gave our hanyou quite a scare for a while there.  How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you."  Kagome smiled

"Now I don't actually have to check anything on you, but I do have a gift for you, in thanks for saving me and my granddaughter."  She pulled a string of rosary beads out of her robes.  "They aren't for you to wear, my dear, but you'll find they will make things a little easier with that hanyou."  Kaede chuckled.

_Alright.__  That was enough time to check her condition.  Inuyasha thought to himself, and burst back into the room.  He felt something land around his neck, and he looked at Kagome, who merely smiled and said one word._

"Sit."

*

"First we must stop by Kaede's house," Sango was explaining, "She's the wise woman of Arysis, and if anyone can help us, it would be her."  

Miroku nodded and continued to follow Sango, enjoying his view from behind.  His cheek had a permanent hand print on it, and he could still vaguely feel the pain of the last slap Sango had delivered him, but he always knew lechery came at a price.

They came upon the burnt remains of house that looked as if it had only recently been extinguished.  Sango gasped.  This was Kaede's house.  It couldn't be. 

"Tora?  Kaede!" she called out.  She would never forgive Naraku for this.

Sango felt something grab her legs from behind and she looked down at the dirty face of Tora.

"Onee-chan!"  The little girl cried.  "Where have you been.  Oba-san and I made new friends!"  She giggled.  "They're funny."

"So you both are alright?"  Sango asked, the relief evident in her voice.  Tora nodded.  She looked at Miroku and her eyes got wide.

"Onee-chan, is that your _boyfriend?_" she whispered to Sango.  Miroku grinned.

"Only in his dreams, little one,"  Sango replied dryly.  "Now where is Oba-san and your new friends?"  Tora giggled again.

"They're inside.  Oba-san gave them a necklace that makes the doggy fall down and then he says bad words!"  Miroku laughed.

"That would be Inuyasha and Kagome.  Come on Sango.  You can meet my friends from Esliad."

*

"Sit."

Whump!

"Sit!."

Whump!

Kagome laughed.  She hadn't had this much fun in ages!

"Sit."  That's for calling me wench.

"Sit."  That's for thinking I don't know how to do anything.

Inuyasha looked ready to kill.

"Aw, look.  She's already taught him a new trick."  Miroku grinned as his friend growled at him.  "Hello Kagome.  Having fun?"  She nodded happily.

"Miroku," Inuyasha growled threateningly, "Don't make me hurt you later."

"But of course, my friend."  He turned back to Kagome.  "I'd like to introduce you to Sango, guardian of the soul of Arysis.  Sango this is Kagome, Kagome this is Sango.  On the floor over there is Inuyasha."  Kagome smiled at Sango.

"Kaede has given me this wonderful rosary for Inuyasha.  I can't thank her enough."  Inuyasha stood up, attempting to hold onto the little dignity he had left.

"Feh."

"It's nice to meet you," Sango said politely.  "Before we go to Esliad I'd like to organize a few of the townspeople to find other survivors and start to reconstruct the city."  Kaede stepped up.

"I'd be more than happy to help, Sango."

"Us too."  Volunteered Kagome.

"Speak for yourself, wench."  Kagome looked at Inuyasha threateningly.  "Fine."  He muttered.  He had to find away to get that cursed necklace off of him.

"Well then!"  Miroku said, clapping his hands.  "Let's get to work!"

*

"Naraku, I swear!  That girl is going to be more valuable than we thought.  That kind of power…"  Kagura trailed of.  She was more frustrated than she let on.  She had seen the girl herself.  The similarities were too much, not only in looks, but in the aura of power around her.  She massaged her temples.  Arguing with Naraku was like trying to swim with cement blocks tied onto her feet.  In a pool full of sharks.

"Kagura, don't argue with me.  I want that girl dead.  I wanted her dead days ago.  You and I have both read the prophecies.  If she is who I believe, you can't even begin to imagine how vitally important it is that she and that obnoxious hanyou are destroyed as quickly as possible.  Find them.  Kill them."

"Couldn't we capture her and bring her to our side?"  Kagura was willing to try one more time.  Sure it was easy to issue the orders.  'Find the insanely powerful girl and her violent demon companion and kill them.'  No problem.

"Don't argue with me, Kagura!  Kill them, or I'll kill you.  Now go!"

Kagura clenched her fist.  "Of course, master."

*

Sango sighed.  It had been a terribly long day, and she wanted nothing more than to flop down and fall asleep.  That rock on the side of the road was looking rather inviting.  "We can go back to the temple now.  I have some mats we can sleep on."  

The rest of the group nodded tiredly.  They were dirty, hungry and exhausted.  Sango grinned a little as she made her way cautiously through the remains of her beloved city.  Even in the darkest moments of her life, Sango tried to find something good.  She stumbled on a rock and Kagome held her arm to steady her.  She and the strange white haired girl got along wonderfully, and Sango was glad to have another female companion to distract Miroku now and then, though she didn't miss the low growls and the dirty looks that Inuyasha sent his friend when he bothered Kagome.  The new friendships helped her more than they knew.

Living in the temple and having the prestigious title as Guardian had caused Sango to lead a rather lonely life.  She frowned and fought back tears as she though of Kohaku.  After their parents had died, she and Kohaku had been closer than ever.  To have him taken away was almost too much for her to bear.

"So Kagome, tell me about Alereal."  She said, more to get her mind off of her brother than to start a conversation.

Kagome brightened visibly.  "Oh it's wonderful there Sango.  The buildings are all this shining white color and everything flows gently in the currents and it's quiet and peaceful all the time."  She paused.  How long had it been since she left Alereal?  Nearly two days.  How were her mother and father?  And her people?  Somehow she had to get back to them and help.  It was so frustrating being on land.  Her powers worked a little differently, and she had hardly had a chance to use them at all.  She felt so useless.  

Kagome hardly noticed that she had stopped talking and merely followed Sango, carefully putting her feet in the same spots as her.  Sango stopped and Kagome bumped into her, surprised.  She looked up and saw that they had arrived at what had once been a beautiful temple.  It was much smaller than the temple of Esliad, but friendlier in a way.

"Home, sweet home."  Sango said fondly, but unable to keep the sadness from her voice.  "There are some rooms below the main floor of the temple that Naraku didn't get to.  We can stay there tonight, and set off for Esliad in the morning."

Darkness seemed to cloud around her vision and Sango shook her head.  She couldn't remember the last time she had been so drained.

She lead the weary group through the hallways of the temple until they entered a room that contained only a sword plunged into a rock.

"What's that?"  Inuyasha asked, his ears perking up at the sight of a weapon.

"That's Tetsusaiga.  It's a sword that was given to Arysis by a demon lord many years ago.  He did my city a great favor in defending us from an attack, and we hold this sword here in his honor."  The darkness was clouding her vision again and she really didn't feel like explaining the whole history of the sword.  "Basically it fits that old legend of the sword in the stone that could only be removed by the one person it was made for.  As you can see, many youkai must have tried today."  She indicated to the charred remains of the youkai who tried more than once to remove the sword.

"Can I try?"  Inuyasha asked.  He wasn't one to ask permission to do things, but even he could feel the sacred aura around the sword.

Sango shrugged.  "Sure.  But it's not my fault if you get charred like the rest of them."  Honestly.  Couldn't boys think about anything but weapons?

Inuyasha slowly approached the sword, uncharacteristically nervous.  It's not like he was afraid that he would get hurt.  Pain had never really been an issue with him.  But he felt as though he had seen that sword before, as if it was an old friend.  He placed his hands on the hilt of the sword and pulled upwards, the sword sliding out without complaint.  Inuyasha looked back at the group and grinned.  Sango's jaw dropped.

"How-?"  Inuyasha shrugged.

"What was that demon lord's name?"  He asked.

"He told us to call him Inutaisho, leader of the dogs."  

Inuyasha nodded.  "My father."  

Kagome opened her mouth as if to ask a question but Inuyasha sent her a look that silenced her.  "Let's go."  He sheathed Tetsusaiga in the scabbard that hung on the wall and walked back to the group.  He exchanged a look with Miroku and then followed Sango as she continued on through the temple.

Inuyasha did not know much about his father.  He knew that he had been a powerful youkai lord, but when Inuyasha was four years old, he had disappeared, leaving him with his mother and conceited brother, Sesshoumaru.  This sword, the Tetsusaiga, may prove to supply Inuyasha with some answers.

Finally Sango lead them down a flight of stairs into a small room with several blankets and a few boxes of food.

"Ah, sleeeep!"  Kagome cried happily, grabbing a blanket and a pillow and falling asleep immediately.  She had been lifting rocks all day, trying to find anyone alive who was buried in the rubble.  Her powers had helped her locate them, but she hadn't been able to figure out how to levitate correctly out of the water.

Inuyasha snuck a glance at Kagome to make sure she was alright.  He knew that today had been hard on her, but he didn't want anyone else to know that he was concerned.  Inuyasha looked once more at his sword, then took a blanket and a pillow and lay down, his thoughts plagued with questions about his father.

Sango looked warily at Miroku who was standing beside her with a fiendish look on his face.

"Looks like there's not much room for us, my dear.  We might as well share a blanket and conserve space."

"In your dreams, buddy."  Sango snorted, and proceeded to make a wall out of the cans of food.  "I sleep on one side, you sleep on the other."  Miroku chuckled.  He could be trusted a little bit more than that, but he was too weary to argue.

"I understand Sango, we should wait until we know each other better."  Satisfied with the blush that colored Sango's face, Miroku lay down on the floor.  Sango turned of the lights and followed suit, and lay down, safely protected by the wall of cans.  "Good night, my beautiful guardian."  The darkness hid Sango's face as her blush deepened. 

"Good night, houshi."

*

When Miroku woke he couldn't tell whether it was night or day.  He glanced over and saw that Kagome and Inuyasha were still sleeping, though it looked as though Kagome was having a bad dream.  He poked his head over a can of tomatoes and saw that Sango was missing.  Well, better go look for her.

  The light coming up from the eastern horizon dazzled Sango's eyes and glistened in the tears that threatened to spill out of her deep brown eyes, highlighting the flecks of red.  She turned her face downwards and took a deep breath.  She was standing at the entrance to her temple, the steps dirty and broken.  Her life had taken a complete turn, but that was no reason to feel sorry for herself.  She had three new friends to help her and she was sure that somehow she would be able to save Kohaku.

She raised her face defiantly to meet the rising sun and she felt the darkness in her fade away as the glittering rays of sun intensified.  Light began to hit every part of Arysis. 

Arysis.  Her city.  Even in all the chaos and destruction, it was beautiful.  She would not let her people down.

"Gorgeous sunrise."  Sango's breath caught in her throat.  She turned and saw the familiar monk robes of Miroku and nodded to him.

"You should have seen one when the city was whole."

"Stunning, no doubt."  Sango nodded.  Silence ensued, but it wasn't awkward, and Sango felt that they could stand there forever and never have to say a word.

Miroku glanced sideways at Sango.  She was as exotically beautiful as Kagome, but in a very different way.  Strong and proud, but still not completely sure of her center.

"We should probably go wake up Inuyasha and Kagome.  Hakori is probably already worried about us."  Miroku turned to walk back into the temple.

"Miroku," Sango started.  The monk turned around and looked at her expectantly.  "I will defeat Naraku.  I won't let him get away with this."

Miroku smiled a sad, small smile.  "I know, Sango."

*

She was having that dream again, but it wasn't as coherent as before.  The images were sharper, but there were more of them, bombarding her all at once.  She was looking into a mirror, but her reflection moved without her.  

Or was she the reflection of someone else?  Lights flashed so bright she felt she was going to go blind.  Naraku's face laughing at her.

Falling deep into the water.  

A light surrounding her.  

Not dead, but not quite alive.  Her reflection, or was she the one reflecting?  

Where was her sister?  

No, she didn't have a sister, only a little brother, Souta, back in Alereal.  

Naraku's face, his deep evil eyes staring into hers, as if he was reading her soul.

Hands gripped Kagome's shoulders and she screamed, sending out as much energy as she could muster.

She looked around at the stone walls of the room, breathing heavily.  On the floor next to her lay a singed hanyou, twitching slightly.  It had been a dream, just a dream.

Kagome poked Inuyasha tentatively.  He wasn't going to forgive her for that one.  "Inuyasha?" Poke, poke.

"WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO GIRL?   KILL ME?"  Kagome jumped back in surprise as Inuyasha exploded.  "I was just trying to wake you up!"

"Eh, heh, heh.  Sorry, Inuyasha."  She really hadn't meant to do that.

"Feh."  He stalked angrily out of the room.  Kagome smacked her forehead.  Way to start off the day, genius.  She looked up as Miroku and Sango entered the room.

"Sheesh, Kag.  What did you do to piss him off that badly?"  Miroku laughed at the expression on her face.  "Come on, we have to make it back to Esliad as soon as we can."

Kagome followed Miroku and Sango out of the temple.  It wasn't her fault she was having crazy dreams that scared her half to death.  It's not like she _meant _to nearly kill Inuyasha.  She returned the glare that the hanyou sent her way.  This was going to be a fun trip back.

Suddenly the winds began to blow fiercely around the temple.  Kagura appeared, grinning wickedly.

Kagome groaned.  Just what she didn't need.  She glanced at Inuyasha who was already in a battle stance.  At least she could have a chance to prove that she wasn't completely worthless.

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**_ah_****_, now I can get to writing a new chapter!_**

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**_You know the routine! Review!!!_****__**


	6. Return

**_Ok wow.. I wasn't expecting to take so long in updating.. Sorry!!  I have plenty of excuses.. but I'll only say that I hate school.  Junior year sucks. IB is the biggest mistake of my life.  On with the story.  _**

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***disclaimer* Mine.****  All mine. . . please? Just a little?  No, alright.  Inuyasha isn't mine.**

**Out of the Waves**

**Chapter Six: Return**

_It has been quiet for a long time now— the world outside has been so peaceful.  There was that disturbance several years back caused by *him* no doubt.  Ha.  I bet he's nervous now, knowing that the two destined to destroy him have come together.  Those two… I'm sure I wasn't mistaken in entrusting my powers with the girl, and the boy… I really should congratulate myself more often on pairing them together.  Ah, Naraku, thinking I was gone, as if I would give up so easily.  If only you knew I'm not as contained as you like to believe.  Of course, I won't let out the secret unless I'm needed… maybe the time of our awakening is closer than I had even hoped.._

* * *

Kagura forced herself to keep the cocky grin on her face.  Naraku was really going to get it when she got back.  She knew he was underestimating the hanyou and that girl.  She'd have to make sure they never caught onto her fear.  Let them think she thought they weren't even a challenge.

"Ah, Inuyasha, I see you've found some new friends.  I didn't think that was your style."  Kagura noticed Inuyasha looked a little fried, and judging from the slightly guilty look on the girl's face, she probably had something to do with it.  It was the girl that really worried her.  Destroying the girl before the girl discovered that she could destroy her would be ideal… and also easier said than done… 

Inuyasha glared up at Kagura.  He really wasn't in the mood for this.  Getting shocked by Kagome so early in the morning wasn't the best way to start the day.  Note to self: let Kagome sleep in.

He leapt up into the air, his claws just barely scratching Kagura, as she jumped back, her surprise showing only a second before her face slid back into her confident grin.

"Eager to start I see."  Kagura pulled out her fan and the winds began to swirl ferociously around Inuyasha, the dust stinging his eyes.  If she thought a little breeze was going to stop him, she was mistaken.  Inuyasha jumped back at Kagura, compensating for the forces of the wind, and attacked with a series of punches and slashes, but none made contact.

Kagura began to laugh.  "I've had more trouble controlling a leaf with my breeze, Inu-chan.  Really, I expected more of a challenge."  Suddenly a blur of motion knocked the fan out of Kagura's hand, and she gasped in shock.  She turned her glare to the group of people behind Inuyasha.  She recognized the guardian of the temple of Arysis, Sango, standing there, boomerang in hand and a look of pure hatred in her eyes.

The lower youkai were supposed to take care of her.  Couldn't they do anything right?  Kagura scowled in annoyance.

"Bothersome wench… Fuujin no mai."  She muttered, sweeping her fan as the razor-edged crescents descended on the group.  "Now, Inuyasha, let's continue without further distractions."

Kagome watched as Inuyasha and Kagura engaged in battle, frustrated that she was, yet again, stuck on the sidelines.  She had stopped Kagura's attack with a simple barrier spell she had learned in Alereal, but she couldn't always control her powers above water, and even at home she wasn't spectacularly powerful.  Her mother had always told her that the power was there, and occasionally Kagome could pull something extraordinary out of nowhere, like killing all those youkai when she had first emerged from the water, but the most she knew she could do was move objects, and stop them, and a few attacks that she doubted would do any good.  

Inuyasha was holding his own against Kagura, but her wind blades were leaving nasty gashes wherever his skin wasn't covered by his red haori and she currently had him caught in a tornado, which was adding to the hanyou's irritation.  Kagome bit her lip.  Muttering a few words, she raised her hands.  She might as well try _something to help him out._

The spell was one meant to control the currents of the water, but apparently it had a different affect on land.  Kagura's tornado stopped at once, dropping a disgruntled Inuyasha ungraciously to the ground as all the razor edged blades flew towards Kagura, who only managed to dodge a few of them.  She turned towards Kagome, a fine line of red appearing across her cheek.  She could sense the power in the girl, un-harnessed, wild and stronger than any other force she knew.  Was the girl beginning to discover her powers? 

Kagome, meanwhile, was trying to keep her face stoic.  OK, so her spell had worked, not as she had planned, but at least it had done something.  Now she had a very angry demon intent on killing her and her newfound friends for reasons that she was still shaky on.  Her fear dissipated and became more of a feeling of annoyance.  She had only been on land for what was it, three day's now?  As if things weren't already hard enough, having no idea if the world from which she came was even still there.  Plus she was stuck with an irritable, secretive hanyou.  What a life.  When she said she wanted to explore what was outside of the barrier, she meant _gradually_.  At her leisure.  Not having it all thrown at her at once.

Kagura walked towards Kagome, a slight sneer on her face.  "So you are the girl from the prophecies?  Looks like I've been over estimating you, Kagome.  Needing the help of that pathetic hanyou.  Really, you're fighting for the wrong side.  You haven't been here long, there's still time to join Naraku, fight for the side that's going to win."  Kagura looked over at Inuyasha who had recovered from her attack.  "Betraying Inuyasha won't be so bad, he's used to it, aren't you Inu-chan?"

Kagome looked at Kagura with distaste.  "You disgust me."  She was sick of this.  Ever since she left the ocean, she could feel her powers more.  It was chaos within her body, every second the power grew, fighting to burst out.  Without the water pressing down on her, she felt light, as if she had been freed from lifelong constraints.  She could almost hear Inuyasha bristle with anger at Kagura's jibes.  Who had betrayed him in the past?  Whatever.  _I have been put through way too much in the past three days to have to put up with snobby demons wasting my time.  I want more sleep, more food, more answers, dammit, and Kagura is in my way._

It was time to release some of that energy pushing at her.  A pearly light began to glow from her hands as Kagura came closer.  As the light grew brighter, Kagome could feel the energy within her coursing out, faster, faster, out of control.  The light exploded in the direction of Kagura, blindingly white, endless and pure.

Inuyasha stood with Miroku and Sango, identically expressions of shock on all of their faces.

"Man, we totally lucked out getting her on our side."  Miroku whispered to Inuyasha.

The light wavered and they could see Kagome fighting to control it.  Finally she sucked it back inside of her, forcing it back into the confines of her body, and dropped to her knees.

"Go Kagura.  Leave us now.  Next time I will not be so kind."

Kagura, her clothes torn and hardly conscious, wearily summoned her feather, and flew away, not eager to face the wrath of Naraku.

Sango rushed to where Kagome had fallen, concern showing in her face.  "Kagome, are you alright?" 

Looking up at Sango from the ground, Kagome tried to smile and nodded, before slumping forward, unconscious.

*

When she woke up, she was riding on Inuyasha's back, going faster than she had ever imagined.  Above them was Sango and Miroku on Kiara.

"Inuyasha, where are we?"  Kagome asked sleepily.  Inuyasha glanced back at her, surprised that she had woken up.

"We're almost back to Esliad, five more minutes maybe."

"Mhmm."  Kagome murmured, before falling asleep again.

Inuyasha glanced back at her again.  He had been impressed with the amount of power she had shown against Kagura.  But the prophecy that Kagura had mentioned… what was it?  Kagura had masked it well, but Inuyasha could smell the fear she had of Kagome, and he bet it had something to do with that prophecy.

For now though, he had to get Kagome back to Esliad.  Answers could be found later.

*

King Kyoto took his wife's hand and led her into the empty thrown room.  Adriana had placed a protective spell around the interior of the city, and he could see the youkai just outside the force field, waiting for them to weaken, destroying everything they could.  He said a silent prayer for the people who had not made it to the city in time for the spell to start, now stuck outside, the remains of the Shikon's energy running out since the youkai had taken it.  Thank god Adriana had had the sense to give Kagome the shard of Titania before Naraku could get the complete Shikon.

Adriana placed a comforting hand on Kyoto's shoulder.  "Don't worry darling.  Have faith in our daughter.  We've always known this day would come and take Kagome from us.  She was never ours to have.  She is fulfilling her destiny.  And we have to fulfill ours, here, protection our people.  Kagome will prevail."

Kyoto looked wearily at his wife.  His beautiful wife, with power and compassion beyond even his own.  Without her Alereal would be completely destroyed.  She had complete faith in Kagome, so sure that their daughter would be safe.  Kyoto sighed.  Adriana was right.  Kagome did not belong to the Oceanic kingdom, even before the attack he had seen how though she loved it, it had become an aquatic prison to her.  One that she longed to leave, but loved too much to do so.  His mind flashed back to the day, 13 years ago, when they had found the girl they would raise to be the princess of the world that was not hers.

_The legendary shard of Titania, lost so many years ago when Naraku attacked _Oceania___, the one ever-elusive shard.  King Kyoto and Queen Adriana, and their small force of men had arrived at the eerie ruins of Titania.  Adriana assured them that the shard was there, hidden from others, cloaking  its power from the evil forces that sought to control it._

_The party split up, wandering about the ruins in a reverent silence, then beginning to search for the lost soul.  Kyoto and Adriana walked together towards the remains of the temple of Titaniar, hardly speaking, Adriana trying to pinpoint where the shard was.  _

_Above them _Kyoto___ noticed a small form, sinking towards the ocean floor and he called Adriana's attention to the listless form. _

_They watched as the body moved closer to them, until it was close enough to see that it was a little girl, her long black hair floating with the currents of the ocean._

_"She comes from the surface," Adriana whispered, her voice breaking the silence that had fallen upon them.  __Kyoto__ did not miss the note of sadness in Adriana's voice as she looked at the pitiable figure._

_The little girl's body landed lightly on the ocean floor at the steps of the temple.  __Kyoto__ took a step towards the girl when suddenly, a bright light enveloped her, lifting her body off the sand and wrapping her in a cocoon of light._

_Kyoto__ looked back at his wife in question and saw a look of understanding on her face.  He turned back to the little girl and watched as the light began to work its way around her, the whiteness separating into tiny strings of different colored light weaving themselves all around the little girl.  _

_For a second he thought he heard voices, lyrical, almost singing, and he was struck with the thought that it was those lights that were singing, laughing, working on that little girl.  With a bright flash, the voices disappeared, and the little girl floated down again, her feet landing softly on the sand.  __Kyoto_ gasped.  The long ebony hair had been changed to a glowing silvery white, like a reflection of the lights that had just surrounded her.__

_ The eyes of the child snapped opened and _Kyoto___ gasped again.  Her eyes were piercing green, with an ethereal light of their own and in them tears glistened, threatening to spill over.._

_Adriana walked past him, a slight smile on her face and __Kyoto__ wondered at the wisdom of his wife._

_Crouching down, Adriana spoke to the child.  "Come here, darling, I've been waiting for you."  The girl took a cautious step towards Adriana, and then stopped to look at something in her hand, as if shocked that it was there.  She stared at it a moment and a cloud covered the clear green eyes before she looked back at Adriana and smiled, closing the distance between the two._

_"What's your name, sweetheart?"  Adriana asked._

_"Kagome."__  The girl replied with a small smile.  She took Adriana's hand and in it placed a small shard._

_"Thank you Kagome, you've been a great help to us."  Adriana took Kagome's hand and turned to __Kyoto__.  "Call the men in, dear, we've found what we came here for."_

_Kyoto obeyed, millions of questions pounding in his mind, but knowing that Adriana would explain it all to him later, and once again he marveled at the phenomenon that was his wife._

After that incident at Titania, Kagome had been adopted as Kyoto and Adriana's daughter.  She had no recollection of any life outside of the one she lived under the sea, and they never spoke of how they had found her dead, and how the shard of Titania had somehow saved her.  In retrospect, perhaps he should have spent more time deciphering the enigma that was his new daughter, but instead he loved her as her own, so much that he nearly forgot she was not his.  In retrospect, maybe all of this could have been avoided.

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty, darling."  Adriana said, as if reading his mind.

Kyoto nodded, and the two walked back out into the large ball room, filled with refugees of the destroyed city.  They had plenty of work to do here.  Kagome could take care of herself.

*

Kagome groaned.  She was back in her bed at Esliad, her light on dim, her body aching.  _I feel like I just got buried under a pile of bricks, _she thought, sitting up in bed.  Her stomach growled and she looked at the clock by her bed.  The cafeteria had probably stopped serving food ages ago.  Her stomach growled again. 

"Alright, alright already!" she muttered, swinging her legs out of her bed.  Since when did her stomach get so impatient?

She was wearing a pair of loose pajamas with the sign of Esliad embroidered on them and she wondered vaguely how she had gotten into them.  She padded across her room in bare feet and slipped out the door and headed in the direction of the cafeteria.  She paused for a minute outside of room 117, wondering if she could wake Inuyasha up and convince him to come down and eat with her, but she figured that would just make him more irritable than usual.

Walking into the cafeteria, Kagome was relieved to see that she was not the only one awake.  She wandered over to the snack machine and tapped on it, wondering how Inuyasha had managed to make that chocolate come out of it.  

"Are you new here?" a kind voice asked, and Kagome turned to see a handsome young man standing behind her smiling.  She gave a weak smile in return and nodded.  

"More than you know."  She would have chuckled but her stomach was threatening to revolt if she didn't get some food in it faster.

"Well, here, let me buy you some food.  I'm Hojo."

"Kagome," she replied.  "Nice to meet you."

Hojo walked over to a machine in the wall, put in some money and typed in a few things.

"I hope you like chicken," he said smiling.

"I love it."  Kagome said, deciding it was unnecessary to mention that she had never even heard of chicken, let alone eaten it and liked it.

Hojo handed Kagome her food and lead her over to a table.

"So where are you from?  Why did you join the Resistance?"  Hojo asked, eager to learn more about her.

Kagome looked up from her meal, which she was devouring hungrily.  "Alereal."

He gave her a questioning look.  "Alereal?  I've never heard of it."  But he was interrupted by shouting in the courider.

"You pervert!  Stop following me around!"  An angry Sango stormed into the cafeteria, a freshly slapped Miroku close behind.  Sango's face lit up when she saw Kagome.

"Kagome!  How are you?  You've been asleep for hours!"  Sango and Miroku sat down at the table, disregarding Hojo completely.

"Yea, well I have no idea where all that power came from and it wore me out."  Kagome replied brightly.  "So what's going on?  Where's Inuyasha?  Oh, by the way, this is Hojo.  Hojo, this is Sango, and Miroku, though you might have met him already, I don't know."  Hojo smiled and nodded at them.

"Inuyasha is talking with Hakori, probably discussing what we'll be doing next."  Miroku replied, "He should be done right about now, want to go get him?"

Kagome nodded and they stood up.  She turned to Hojo.

"Thank you so much for the food.  Maybe I'll see you later."

Sango waved at him and then the three walked out of the cafeteria.  They walked to the main room where Hakori conducted business just as Inuyasha walked out, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What's going on Inuyasha?"  Miroku called, getting his attention.  "What's the master plan?"

"Hakori was glad that we found the Guardian of Arysis safe, and with the soul of Arysis still in her control, but he is anxious to obtain the other shards before Naraku can get them.  The more shards he has, the more uneven the scores become between us.  He's planning on going to Oceania to see if we can gain the Shikon, but first he wants us to travel to Tanli to bring that Guardian and the shard back here."  Inuyasha filled them in as the walked back towards their rooms.

"What about me?" Sango asked.  "What am I supposed to do?"  Though she had already decided.  There was no way she would wait at Esliad while Kagome, Miroku and Inuyasha gathered the shards.  Especially when Naraku had Kohaku.

"Hakori was unsure, but he decided that having you travel with us would be a good idea, though he is nervous about the idea of letting the soul of Arysis travel so near to danger."  Inuyasha replied.

"So when do we leave?"  Kagome asked quietly. 

Inuyasha looked at her, not missing the distress in her eyes.  She was worried about Alereal, and he could tell she wanted to go straight there to check on her people, not travel about on land while Alereal had to fight without her.

"We'll stay here tomorrow and prepare.  Tanli is farther away than Arysis, and from there we might be going straight to the other temples, depending on how things go.  We'll leave early the next day."  Kagome nodded, a determined look coming over her face, and Inuyasha was relieved.  This was a powerful girl he had stumbled upon, and her distress was discomforting.

The group reached the dormitories, and Miroku turned into his room beside Inuyasha's, after offering half of his bed to Sango, who had given him a slight slap and then stalked off down the hallway with Kagome.

Inuyasha entered his room and closed the door behind him.  He walked to his bed and flopped down, exhausted.  He wanted more than anything to defeat Naraku, had dreamed about destroying him for as long as he could remember.  His need for revenge was intensified by the betrayal that cut into him, his memory a constant reminder of his weakness and his failures.

Inuyasha turned off the light and fell asleep in his clothes, too tired to get ready for bed, knowing that his dreams would be plagued by memories he always tried so hard to forget.

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**o.O****  this**** seems like such a long chapter!  I said before that I like long chapters, so I'll have to see how this long this will be once its translated to FF.net format.. hopefully long!  I used my entire snow day to work on OoTW, and now I have none of my homework done for tomorrow.  -_-..  oh well.  If you guys review, it will all be worth it!  And now, rather than start the home work that I've been putting off, I'm going to rearrange my outline for the next couple of chapters.  I want to develop Inuyasha a little more; so far its been mainly about Kagome, so I have to work that in there.  Until next time!**

**~reina**


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